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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28585182">to the last</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/epsiloneridani/pseuds/epsiloneridani'>epsiloneridani</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Gen, final stand</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:54:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,942</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28585182</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/epsiloneridani/pseuds/epsiloneridani</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Last words. Final stands.</p>
<p>In the face of certain death, Obi-Wan sought solace in a prayer.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CC-2224 | Cody &amp; Obi-Wan Kenobi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>131</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>to the last</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“We must hold them here.”</p>
<p>They’d long ago run out of extra power cells with which to light the space. A gust of wind caught the flickering candle flame, tossing shadows across the battered barracks wall and casting Cody’s face in a faint light. His curls, usually well-contained, fell loosely about his brow. Dark circles shaded his eyes. If Obi-Wan didn’t know him so well, he’d think about ordering him to try to get some rest. Cody had always been more skilled at finding a center for sleep in a warzone.</p>
<p>But Obi-Wan did know. And, despite his better judgment, he’d already tried that.</p>
<p>“Yes, sir,” Cody said. His gaze swept the map they’d spent the last few hours scrutinizing. The holomap projector, at least, still had some life left in it. Their base was represented by a blocked structure set on the map’s far right. Before and below it was a bridge spanning a wide chasm. The only way to reach the city behind the base was to cross the gorge and clear both levels of the base.</p>
<p>Cody’s tone held no doubt; the Force, however, roiled around him like a turbulent sea. Cody usually felt more like a beacon. Unwavering. Unmoved.</p>
<p>Never uncertain.</p>
<p>“Sir,” Cody hedged. “I would be lying if I said I was optimistic about our chances.”</p>
<p>“Our reinforcements are en route,” Obi-Wan returned. “They should be here within the week.”</p>
<p>Cody blew out a breath. They’d heard that before, many times: on this battlefield, and so many others. We’re bringing supplies. We’re on our way. Hold out. Hold on. We’ll be there soon. We’ll bring you home. Obi-Wan had sent enough of those messages himself. Sometimes, they made it in time to keep their promise.</p>
<p>Most times, they didn’t.</p>
<p>Obi-Wan gathered his cloak more closely around him, mindful of the chill spilling through the well-beaten barracks wall. This base hadn’t been in the best shape before they’d made it their bastion. After the last aerial bombardment, it barely passed for a building. “Speak your mind, Commander.”</p>
<p>The hand Cody had resting on the table curled into a fist. Trembled. Stopped, stilled by sheer force of will. “I’m not saying that we can’t win,” he offered quietly. “But we ran out of rations this afternoon, and the water’s not going to last more than a few more days. We’ve used up all of our medical supplies. We have more wounded than we can fit in the medical bay. The men are tired. A few of my squads are still sick.”</p>
<p>The water supply running to the base hadn’t been functional when they’d moved in. One of the troopers had filled his canteen with it and drank it in a hurried moment before a briefing, then nearly keeled over and died in the middle of it. The well was rife with rot, and anyone that drank from it suffered accordingly. Small mercy that they’d figured that out when they’d still had some of the appropriate medication left to treat it.</p>
<p>“I could help Sol,” Obi-Wan said. “I might be able to—”</p>
<p>Cody shook his head. “We need you at full strength, General, or as close as you can get. Healing them isn’t an option right now.”</p>
<p>Obi-Wan took a measured breath. On a tactical level, Cody was completely correct. But that knowledge did nothing to assuage the deep ache turning in the pit of his stomach whenever he cast his senses around him and caught stabbing spikes instead of smooth sinusoids.</p>
<p>“You’re right,” Obi-Wan allowed, bracing his palms against the table and leaning forward to scrutinize the holo again. It was a futile gesture; they’d already gone over the most likely scenarios and decided the configuration of their defenses. The men had been briefed before Cody shuttled them onto a routine watch-sleep cycle.</p>
<p>All they could do now was wait.</p>
<p>The truth burned in Cody’s eyes. His curled fingers trembled.</p>
<p>“You should get some rest,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “You look as if you could use it.”</p>
<p>“Is that an order, sir?”</p>
<p>“If I made it one, would it make any difference?”</p>
<p>“No, General. Can’t say it would.” Cody straightened, slid his helmet off the table, and propped it against his hip. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to check on the sentries.”</p>
<p>There was nothing Cody could do for their men if they were tired or hungry or thirsty. It helped them, though, to see their commander in the trenches beside them. It helped for him to take hold of their shoulders and bump his helmet to theirs with a whisper like a prayer: <em>k’atini, vod. Oya manda</em>. It’s only pain. You’ll survive this. Be strong.</p>
<p>“Would you mind company?” Obi-Wan asked. “I’m afraid I’ve found sleep equally elusive.”</p>
<p>Cody met his eyes, perhaps considering whether an attempt to turn Obi-Wan’s argument back on him would be anything but futile. A moment later, warm resignation settled about him like a cloak. “No, sir,” he said, voice tinged with a familiar fondness. “I wouldn’t.”</p>
<p>Obi-Wan fell in step beside him. Cody guided them out of the barracks and to the various sentry posts positioned along the perimeter. When they finished their rounds, they came to a stop on the platform overlooking the bridge they’d been charged with defending.</p>
<p>Cody clipped his helmet to his belt and propped his forearms on the rusted rail that passed for the overlook’s safety measure. It gave an ominous groan.</p>
<p>“I would caution against that,” Obi-Wan said, a bit unnecessarily. “I’d prefer to keep you in one piece if you don’t mind, Commander.”</p>
<p>The lack of charged power cells meant that they couldn’t make use of the flood lights mounted on either side of the overlook; they had to see by starlight alone. Even in the dim gloom, Obi-Wan could make out the pensive scowl. The sea swelled around Cody again, turbulent and unpredictable. Talking with their men had given him a precious few moments of certainty and clarity; for a little while, he’d had a goal he could achieve.</p>
<p>Now, that peace was gone.</p>
<p>Cody eased to stand, glancing disapprovingly at the offending rail, then folding his arms across his chest. Obi-Wan followed his gaze across the dark plain.</p>
<p>“Terrain’s clear. We should be able to see them before they hit us,” Cody said, clipped. “That’ll give us some advance warning.”</p>
<p>“It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the power to charge up the sensor array.”</p>
<p>Cody snorted. “I don’t think the damn thing would work even if we had the power, General. This place is too old.”</p>
<p>They’d been driven from stronghold to stronghold, keeping just barely ahead of the enemy until they’d found themselves backed into a corner: all that stood between the last Republic-controlled city and the Separatist onslaught. The base had been long-abandoned before they took it over; it had been left behind by the planet’s militia when the Republic requested their disbandment. It had only ever witnessed battle with pirates and mercenaries. Never a full-scale war.</p>
<p>They were trapped, undermanned, and facing an armada.</p>
<p>“This is beginning to feel a bit like Mygeeto all over again,” Obi-Wan offered, forcing a note of levity into his tone. “Do you remember?”</p>
<p>Cody turned to face him in one slow, deliberate movement. “Is there any way either of us could forget Mygeeto, sir? I’ve never been part of such an <em>osik’la</em> campaign.”</p>
<p>“Until now?”</p>
<p>Cody didn’t answer. Around him, just for a second, the Force read like ruin. “It wasn’t your fault,” he said, all at once, as if he’d been holding in a tide and the dam had just broken. “What happened during that campaign.”</p>
<p>“Nor yours,” Obi-Wan returned. “Neither of us could have foreseen the outcome. We were given flawed intelligence.”</p>
<p>“I’m starting to think Republic Intelligence is an oxymoron, General.”</p>
<p>“Just starting?”</p>
<p>Cody chuffed something that almost passed for a laugh. “I think Rex’s optimism has rubbed off on me.”</p>
<p>He pitched his voice to sound light, but his words still carried an undercurrent of profound grief. If they didn’t survive this, he would never see Rex again. Never say goodbye. Obi-Wan thought, briefly, of Anakin, and buried the thought deep. Death was a hazard of duty. Eventually, everyone came face-to-face with the mortal shroud. Courage, by the Code, was being able to step through it with neither guilt nor regret. The ones you left behind were meant to rejoice at your transformation, not mourn your loss.</p>
<p>Obi-Wan’s heart lurched in his chest. Anakin would not rejoice. And Obi-Wan knew, despite all of the training drilled into his skull, that he did not want to leave him behind. He did not want to leave him with that grief.</p>
<p>Not again.</p>
<p>“I could do with some optimism,” Obi-Wan managed. “I think we both could.”</p>
<p>Cody didn’t answer for a long moment. The silent plains stretched wide beyond them. Somewhere, a bird gave a hoarse and echoing cry.</p>
<p>“<em>Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur</em>,” Cody murmured.</p>
<p>“‘Today is a good day for someone else to die.’”</p>
<p>“It’s as close to a prayer as I’ve got, General.”</p>
<p>It was something like an invitation, or maybe a plea. Obi-Wan let his eyes slip shut, dimly aware of Cody’s hand falling to rest on his shoulder, and took a deep breath.</p>
<p>And sank into the depths.</p>
<p>The Force moved jagged around their men. Obi-Wan pressed soothing to the sharp edges, coaxing them gently until the points smoothed to arcs and the anxious pulses evened to steady beats. “I am one with the Force and the Force is with me,” Obi-Wan whispered, willing them to believe. “And I fear nothing, because all is as the Force wills it.”</p>
<p>Beside him, in the space between his serenity and the chaos beyond, Cody’s breath evened. The furious tide surging in his chest swelled, crested, and fell still. No turbulence. No turning.</p>
<p>Only peace.</p>
<p>Obi-Wan opened his eyes slowly. “Thank you,” Cody said. “For doing that.”</p>
<p>Obi-Wan clasped his wrist. “Any time, my friend,” he said softly. “You have only to ask.”</p>
<p>“You should still try to get some rest, sir.”</p>
<p>“As should you.”</p>
<p>Cody’s hand pressed tighter to his shoulder. Grounding. “If it’s all the same to you,” he said. “I’ll keep watch here.”</p>
<p>Obi-Wan thought of Anakin again, halfway across the galaxy on a mission of his own. If he closed his eyes and reached through the bond, he could feel a spark of his former padawan’s signature. Just enough to touch. Just enough for Anakin to know. He willed to him what he could never say with words, a rush like a sunburst or a supernova. <em>My brother. I’m proud. I love you</em>.</p>
<p>And he wished, against all knowledge to the contrary, that he could give Cody a way to say the same to Rex.</p>
<p>“If you don’t mind the company,” Obi-Wan said, and left it unfinished.</p>
<p>Assuming the estimates they’d drawn up were correct, the Separatist armada would be arriving by daybreak. Strange, how many times he’d had to tell himself he might only have hours to live. Stranger still how routine it had become to accept that circumstance as fact. Obi-Wan tilted his head up to study the stars. To memorize their light. They would fade with the dawn.</p>
<p>“I want you to know that I’m with you, General.” Cody’s voice held steady, once more a beacon. Once more unwavering. “Until my last breath.”</p>
<p>“We shall hope it does not come to that,” Obi-Wan said, and felt the truth burn like fire in his chest. “But if this day is to be my last, then it is an honor to face it at your side.”</p>
<p>--</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm <a href="https://jate-kara.tumblr.com/">jate-kara</a> over on tumblr if you want to come yell about Star Wars with me there</p></blockquote></div></div>
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